Find out how popular the last name Quinn is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Quinn.

Quinn, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Quinn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Quinn in America

Quinn is the 422nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Quinn surname appeared 76,986 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 26 people would have the surname Quinn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Quinn to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Quinn

The surname Quinn has its origins in Ireland and is an Anglicized version of the Old Gaelic name O'Cuinn, meaning "descendant of Conn". Conn was a legendary ancient king of Ireland who ruled in the 2nd century AD. The name is derived from the Old Irish word "cond" meaning "chief" or "leader".

The Quinn surname first appeared in historical records in the 12th century, with early spellings including O'Cuin, O'Cuinn, and O'Quin. It was particularly prevalent in the counties of Tyrone, Derry, and Fermanagh in Ulster, where the O'Quinns were a powerful clan.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Annals of Ulster, which mention a man named Giolla Crist O'Cuinn in 1181. The name also appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, a 17th-century chronicle of medieval Irish history.

The surname Quinn is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name is listed as "Quine" in this record.

Notable historical figures with the surname Quinn include:

1. Ede Quinn (c. 1532 - 1624), an Irish military leader who fought against English forces during the Nine Years' War.
2. Walter Quinn (1701 - 1786), an Irish-born Catholic priest who emigrated to the American colonies and was a prominent educator in Philadelphia.
3. James Quinn (1819 - 1881), an Irish-American Union Army officer who served in the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Antietam.
4. John Quinn (1870 - 1924), an American lawyer and art collector who amassed one of the largest collections of modern art in the United States.
5. Anthony Quinn (1915 - 2001), a Mexican-American actor of Irish descent who won two Academy Awards and starred in films like "Viva Zapata!" and "Zorba the Greek".

The name Quinn has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Quinnsborough, Quinntown, and Quinnville, which were likely derived from prominent local families with the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Quinn

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Quinn.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Quinn was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Quinn has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Quinn was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Quinn, please contact us.

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